223 new spaces in North Beach parking proposal

San Clemente's North Beach area could gain as many as 223 parking spaces under a nearly $8 million proposal that the City Council will consider Tuesday night.

The proposal includes turning a vacant lot along El Camino Real into a 33-space public parking lot at an estimated cost of $698,000, plus acquiring land across the street on the corner of Avenida Pico and El Camino Real and building as many as 190 parking stalls in a three-level structure. The estimated cost for that venture is $7.23 million, a city staff report said.

The City Council will be asked to consider proceeding with designing and building the El Camino Real parking lot, opening negotiations to purchase the site at Pico and El Camino and developing construction documents for a parking structure that could also be designed to accommodate commercial development.

Funding for all but the commercial aspect could come from a beach parking fund the city created in 1989, the staff report said. The fund is the subject of a lawsuit that demands a refund of fees charged to San Clemente property owners outside the coastal zone to help increase beach parking. The council is scheduled to discuss that lawsuit with the city attorney in a closed session at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The council's public meeting starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Avenida Presidio. Other topics include:

• An $18,000 proposal to patch and resurface two aging tennis courts at Bonito Canyon Bicentennial Park, which could keep them playable for about three years while the city explores other options.

• A proposed amendment to the city's litter code to make businesses responsible for cleanup of litter that accumulates in public places near the businesses.

• A proposed agreement among the city, Arch Insurance and Lehman Bros. in which Lehman would assume responsibility for completing certain bonded infrastructure improvements on the 248-acre Marblehead Coastal property.

Construction of an Avenida Pico park, a blufftop park and a trail system would start on Marblehead Coastal by the end of March and be completed by mid- to late 2014. Completion of improvements along Avenida Pico would begin in late spring for completion by the end of summer. Completion of Avenida Visa Hermosa would be due by mid- to late 2014.